


In Between the Raindrops

by arjasmo



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-09-11
Packaged: 2018-02-15 01:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2210532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arjasmo/pseuds/arjasmo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The TARDIS is invaded by a toxic pollen and the Doctor and Rose are thrown out with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Now they have to make it on their own with literally nothing. How will they make their way with no TARDIS,no resources, just each other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Rose!” the Doctor called over the thousands of flowering plants to his companion. She was hunched over, examining a particular bloom. She looked up at him, grinned, and jogged over. They had landed on a botanical planet. Its sole purpose was to provide flowers and various kinds of vegetation to neighboring planets. They had an entire region that was dedicated to medicinal plants and edibles, one for long lasting flowers for celebrations, and one that was extra fragrant to be made into exotic perfumes. 

The Doctor was standing next to a tall thin man, even taller and thinner than himself. Rose chuckled at this. It certainly was a rare sight. The other man wore khaki cargo style pants, a similar colored shirt and a large floppy hat. He looked like he worked outside all day. “Hi!” she smiled at both of the men as she approached. 

“Rose, this is Manrai, he is the curator here at the gardens.” Rose nodded to the man and shook his hand. He looked down at her and Rose could see that he had a lovely green tinge to his skin. His hands were even a darker green. She had to suppress a joke about a green thumb. The Doctor continued, ”He needs me to take a look at one of his transporters. It seems to have a leak and the flowers have been being transported all over the place by accident. I picture some of the warring factions on some distant world with lovely arrangements telling them ‘good luck with your retirement’!” He laughed at his own joke. 

Manrai leaned over and handed Rose a pair of small but sharp shears and a flat basket. “Please Rose, look around and make some cuttings for an arrangement to bring home. It’s the least I can do for the help the Doctor has offered.” His voice was sing-song and melodic. Rose wished he would talk more just so she could listen. He probably could make the phone book sound like a beautiful song. 

“Thank you!” she said and turned to the Doctor, ”Do you think you will be long then?”

“Nah, I just have to make some adjustments to the ahhh…” Rose was giving him a withering look. “You really don’t care do you?” She shook her head. ”Well let’s go with I just need to make the adjustments and I won’t be long. How is that?” 

“That’s just fine. It’ll give me a chance to check out those amazing blue flowers on that far edge.”

Manrai spoke up, ”Just look out for the weeds. We can get some pretty invasive weed species in here. Not all of them are friendly.”

“Sounds good!” Rose answered brightly. 

“I’ll see you in a bit then.” The Doctor gave her a little wave, which she returned and they both parted in their respective directions. 

Rose had always liked flowers. Besides being named after one, she always liked to pick out bouquets of seasonal flowers and have them around the flat. They had no room to grow them and her mother had a bad habit of killing them before they could bloom, so she would head to her favorite flower shop and pick out some every week. She hummed to herself and wandered toward the edge of the decorative flower area. She had been particularly intrigued by some green/blue varieties she has seen from a distance. The flowers were fenced in and she could see wild land just on the other side. She felt a tickle on her wrist and looked down to see a purple bee-looking insect that she would later swear had dripping fangs and glowing red eyes. “BEE!” she screamed, shook her hand violently and ran about 25 meteres away. She eventually stopped and looked around to see if the bee had followed her. Then is struck her just how silly she must have looked. She had fought foes throughout the universe and was completely rattled by an insect on her arm.

While fleeing, she entered a different area of plants. These stems were much taller. They were all a vibrant blue. She cut a few of the tall ones and looked down and noticed something different. It was and an entirely different looking plant. It was sticking out of a pot that already housed another plant but looked nothing like the others. It was short, so short she would not have seen it if she had not cut several of the other stems. The bloom was shaped like it was folded in half almost as if it had yet to open. It was a radiant pink with vibrant yellow stripes. “Well hello there beautiful! What are you doing hiding in the big flowers!” Rose purred at the blossom. It would look great in the color scheme that she was going for so she clipped it too. 

She had a nice collection of different flowers as she walked back to meet the Doctor and Manrai. She was excited to get a vase and start to arrange what she found. She only hoped the Doctor wouldn’t be too much longer. She sat on a nice bench near the main building and relaxed. Before too long she felt her eyes begin to droop and ended up resting her head on her hands and dosing off. 

“Hey there sleepy head,” a quiet voice spoke directly in her ear. His breath tickled her ear and she jumped a bit, raising a hand to rub it.

“Hi!” she smiled; she hadn’t even heard him take a seat next to her. 

“Did you find some nice flowers?”

“Oh yes! There are some amazing colors and smells out there. You should see what I found!” 

“I can’t wait. The console room could use some sprucing up.“

Manrai thanked the Doctor profusely and invited them back to get flowers whenever they wanted .The Doctor did his best to duck and avoid compliments as usual. Rose loved to hear him trying to be humble. He wasn’t really that good at it. The last thing Manrai did was to give her a beautiful shining vase for her flowers. She tried to tell him no but he insisted. Mostly, she thought, because the Doctor would not take payment. She took it gratefully and finally the Doctor was able to take Rose’s hand and walk back to the TARDIS.


	2. Chapter 2

“So, where to now Rose?” the Doctor was standing at the console, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Rose walked up, still carrying the basket of flowers and set it on the jump seat.

“Oh I don’t know...how about a beach somewhere?” 

“America, east coast, New Jersey maybe…um 2016?” he was already fiddling with the controls. 

“Sounds perfect, but can you put us there in the summer? The beach in the winter is no good.” She was starting to pull out flowers and arranging them in the vase.

“Your wish is my command! We’ll be there momentarily.” He grinned at her and threw a lever with a flourish for effect. He then picked up his sonic and began fiddling with it. 

“Oh I forgot to show you! Look at this blossom I found. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” She was holding up the bright pink oddly shaped flower. 

“That is beautiful! Where did you find it?”

“It was down in the pot with another flower. “

“Hmmm.” the Doctor leaned in close to examine it further, sliding on his glasses in the process. As he did this, the blossom started to part. 

“It’s opening!” Rose exclaimed. The Doctor held out his arm a bit, so that the flower was at arm’s length. Rose stood on her tippy toes to peer into the bloom. There was a light popping sound from it and a blast of purple sparkling pollen came out like a puff of smoke. Suddenly the Doctor jumped back and clamped his hand over his nose and mouth. He grabbed desperately at Rose, reaching around her and slapping his other hand on her mouth like his. Ear splitting warning alarms and flashing lights erupted from the TARDIS. The Doctor dragged Rose, his hand firmly in place over her mouth and nose down the ramp and to the door. He quickly removed his hand from his face and opened the door, and they both spilled out. The door slammed shut behind them. 

They fell onto the grass outside, her sprawled on top of him. She struggled a little and he finally let go of her. She pushed off of him and onto the ground where she could face him. “WHAT WAS THAT?” she yelled at him. 

“Did you breathe it in?” he yelled back, a little too loud and a little too close. 

“What? “ She was now obviously confused in addition to irritated. 

“The pollen of course, it’s extremely toxic, did you breathe it in?” he was still yelling.

“I don’t know, I don’t think so.” She had backed away from him somewhat; wondering if she had, indeed breathed it in. She had a funny taste in her mouth, but until she knew for sure she wasn’t going make him worry. 

The Doctor got to his feet and stepped up to her. He took both of her hands and looked directly into her eyes. “I need to know if you did. It’s very important. That flower excreted toxic pollen. It must have been a weed. Those alarms you heard were the TARDIS contaminant warning system. They go off when a toxic or infectious substance is detected in the air.”

She glanced over at the now closed TARDIS. She jerked her head in its direction and asked, ”Now what?”

“Well she’s shut us out for now. She needs to scrub all the surfaces and the entire ventilation system of all the contaminants. It all needs to be cleared before we go back in. Even the tiniest of amounts can infect us.”

Rose looked around, ”I wish I had a chance to grab my things, it would be nice to get some dinner. Oh well, I suppose we can walk around a while until she’s all scrubbed up.” She turned back to him and smiled. 

“Um Rose,“ he started, “when I said she had to scrub everything I meant it. The pollen could have gone anywhere. The TARDIS has to locate and eradicate every last molecule. Plants of that type are very adept in dispersing their pollen. It has a way of finding air flow and instantly spreading itself to achieve maximum pollination, or in this case poison. “

“So how long?”

“Days, maybe weeks, depending. The TARDIS detected the threat rather quickly so that’s a plus. But there is no way of knowing for now.”

“We have now money, no food, no shelter. I don’t even have a jacket!” she unconsciously let go of him and hugged her arms around her body. She was in jeans and a thin t-shirt. She evaluated his clothes next. “At least you have your suit jacket. Hey what do you have in your pockets?”

He dug his hands into his pockets and produced a clockwork mouse, string, his stethoscope and a few other things. “Oh no!” he exclaimed, “I had my psychic paper out earlier and must have left it on the console.”

“So we have no money either…and your sonic, where is that?”

He looked at her sheepishly.” On the console too, I was cleaning some of the contacts.” 

Rose’s face fell; she began to look defeated and maybe a little scared. ”We have nothing, what are we going to do?” The Doctor stepped up to her again and gathered her into a warm hug. 

“We always find a way don’t we?” He surveyed his surroundings. They had landed near a boardwalk by the beach. They were actually standing in a little grassy area near a big tree. The sun was setting. “Let’s just take a walk and see what’s around. It’ll be dark soon. We’ll just settle here tonight and see what the morning brings. 

The two walked along the boardwalk hand in hand for a few hours. There were a lot of tourists around and luckily several shops were handing out food samples so they were able to eat a bit. Finally as it got late, they sat leaning against the tree near the TARDIS. The temperature had dropped and there was a bit of chill to the air. Rose shivered. The Doctor took off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. They sat and talked for quite a while before Rose started to get quiet. 

“Rose, it’s late, why don’t you take a rest?”

“I’m ok.” she replied sleepily. She turned her head, looking out towards the beach. “It looks like it is going to rain.”

“It’s ok I’ll protect you.”

“And just how do you intend on doing that?“ She snuggled in a little closer to him. 

“We’re going to be in-between the raindrops just for tonight.”

“Really?”

“Yeah really, now rest.”

“OK“ she acquiesced. He guided her down next to him so that she was lying on her side and her head was on his leg. He fussed over her, making sure his jacket covered her and she was relatively comfortable. 

“Goodnight Rose,” he said quietly, patting her on the back.

“G’nite Doctor.” she relaxed, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing into the shore.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose stirred. She took a deep breath through her nose. She could smell the salt air and something else. She smelled again. It was the smell of the TARDIS, the Doctor smell. She could feel his hand on her back, just resting. 

She turned and sat up, facing him. He gave her a wide grin. “Good morning sleepy head!” Rose was suddenly aware of the possibility of what she called ‘morning face’ and looked away, running her hands over her face and through her hair. 

“Don’t worry, you look fine. And only a little bit of drool too!” He indicated a little circle of wetness on his pants near his knee. 

“Sorry,” she said quietly, always more than aware of the human inadequacies.

“Nah, don’t be. It’s all part of the human experience.” He grabbed her and hugged her close. 

Still in the hug Rose uttered, ”Hungry. Wow I’m really hungry.” She leaned back and sniffed. “Oh is that garlic I smell? There must be an Italian restaurant close. I can try to dumpster dive if you want.”

“Dumpster dive?” he asked.

“Yeah, sometimes those places toss out a lot of good foods. They usually toss it in bags. I met a guy who used to live solely on what he found from the restaurants by our flat. He ate like a king, or at least that’s what he said. “

“I don’t know about that…” the Doctor eyed her suspiciously. He got to his feet and brushed himself off. 

“Come on, where is your sense of adventure? I’ll bet the TARDIS is nearly done anyway.”

The Doctor sniffed. “I don’t know about the TARDIS, but I’m willing to give it a try… for the sake of adventure. Why don’t you head over towards the Italian place, and I’ll head the other direction and see what I can procure. It would be nice to have tooth brushes and maybe soap and things.”

Rose wrinkled her nose. ”Yeah, that would be good too. I’ll meet you back here in an hour or so?”

“Yeah” He grinned at her and turned on his heel and headed out, evoking a giggle from her. 

***  
Rose followed her nose down the street. It reminded her of the cartoon she watched when she was little of the mouse floating on the scent of cheese until he found the chunk. She found the restaurant, “Papa’s Italian Kitchen”, and headed around the back to the alley. She looked both ways to see if anyone was looking and hopped into the large trash can. Before long she found a full bag of scraps. It was still warm from the night before. She opened it carefully. It smelled amazing. Whoever this Papa guy was, he was quite a cook. 

She had her nose in the bag just enjoying the aroma when there was a gruff voice from behind her. “You hungry?”

Rose jumped and looked up surprised. ”Huh?”

Standing next to the dumpster was a short, compact man with short curly black hair, a big mustache, unruly eyebrows and a dirty apron. “You hungry? You come work, you don’t eat scraps.” 

Rose stood there, mouth agape. She wasn’t sure what he wanted. Was he offering food? 

“Um pardon?” 

His expression turned to exasperation. “One more time, are you stupid? If you hungry, you work for me, I feed you. Good deal? You stay out of trash.”

Rose set down the bag of food and gingerly climbed out of the trash bin. “So if I work for you I can eat? That sounds lovely. I’m a good worker.”

“Then come, wash up, help me get ready for lunch. What is your name?”

“I’m Rose.”

“Where from?”

“London”

“Why you here with no money?” 

“I am travelling with my companion and our…umm… vehicle broke down. We had to use our money to fix it but we are stuck for a few days.” She hated lying to him, but there really no good way to explain their predicament. 

“I’m Papa. You call me Papa. You steal from me, I cut off your arm.” With that he turned and went through the back door of the restaurant. 

Rose grinned and followed. She was going to like Papa. 

The kitchen was small but tidy. It smelled amazing though. There was a stovetop with an enormous sauce pan on top. She wondered how Papa could even see into it. He had to be only about 5 foot tall. He had fresh herbs all over the counters that he was in the process of chopping. She could smell what she assumed was his marinara sauce slow cooking. Her stomach growled loudly. He turned to her, and pointed to a little bench in the corner. She sat down and he grabbed a bowl, dropped some pasta in it, stood up on a stool and dipped a ladle into the giant sauce pan. He put the sauce on the pasta and handed it to her with a fork. “You eat, then you work.”

Rose nodded eagerly, putting her first bite in her mouth. When the food hit her tongue she groaned unwillingly. This was quite possibly the best food she had ever tasted. The spices blended perfectly with the fresh pasta. It all literally melted in her mouth. 

“You like?” Papa was still standing over her. 

“Mmm hmm!” Rose didn’t want to waste any time with actual words if she could be eating another bite. Papa chuckled and went back to his prep work. 

When she was done she was assigned to wash duty. He had her cleaning all the huge pots and pans. She worked steadily for some time before she heard someone calling outside, “Rose!” She gasped. Papa had a screen door at the back entrance. She could see the Doctor walking by, peering in for a moment then walking on. He couldn’t see her all the way by the sink.

She wiped her hands on the apron Papa had provided and rushed to the door. “Hey! Over here!” He whipped his head around and jogged over to her, looking her up and down. 

“Um I kinda got a job,” she said, examining her feet. She felt very bad for forgetting to come meet him. 

He just laughed. “I’m glad I found you.” He inhaled deeply. “What is that magnificent smell?”

“That my sauce. Who are you?“ Papa had joined Rose by her side. 

The Doctor grinned widely at him. “I’m… John,” he shot Rose a quick conspiratorial look, ”I’m traveling with Rose here. “

“You honest and good worker?”

“Yes I am, both.”

“Then you come in eat and work. I need help.” Papa opened the screen door and ushered him in. He motioned for the Doctor to sit where Rose had initially and fed him in a similar fashion. He too, was taken by the flavors. He sat there making all kinds of happy noises and literally licked the bowl clean. Papa smiled to himself. It was obvious to Rose though that he loved it when people enjoyed his food. 

“That was undeniably the best sauce I have ever tasted. And let me tell you, I have been around.” The Doctor had gone to the sink to wash his dish. 

Papa looked at them both, evaluating. “You two stay for lunch service?” They both nodded, it was the least they could do. 

“Good, you look more dirty, you stay in back,” he indicated Rose. “You,” he pointed to the Doctor, ”you be waiter.” Rose looked at the Doctor and stuck out her tongue. He in turn waved and smiled, loving that he was the cleaner of them. 

“You’re the one that just HAD to sleep on the ground.” He winked at her and danced into the seating area. 

“Oi, well at least for once I don’t have to be the pretty one!” Rose laughed. This time the Doctor stuck out his tongue across the restaurant at her.


	4. Chapter 4

The lunch rush at Papa’s Italian Kitchen was just that. Papa had a constant stream of customers and take-out orders. The Doctor was in his element. He charmed all the ladies and joked with all the men. He did not need to write down people’s orders and would spout them my memory once he was back in the kitchen. Papa made him write them down when he got there though. Rose served up meals, did dishes and generally ran around the kitchen for three hours. The patrons started to come in around eleven and everyone was gone about two. After the last customers left, Rose sat down in a booth and put her head on the table. 

Papa was singing something old and Italian in the kitchen, and the Doctor finished what he had been doing and slid in next to Rose. “Well that was fun!” he was still beaming. 

“For you maybe! It’s hot in that kitchen. I feel like I have run a marathon.”

Papa came out and joined them. He brought a heaping plate of food and three plates. “Now we eat!”

They dug in. Everything Papa made was magnificent. It was easy to tell that he loved what he did. He also loved to share. 

“Papa,” Rose started after downing several forkfuls, ”is it just you here? How do you manage?” 

“No, I have niece. Her name Layla. She goes to university but usually is here. Today she has to be there all day. She will be here tonight.”

Rose smiled. His broken English was charming. He spoke with such fervor. Like he always knew exactly what he wanted to say. There was no indecision with this man. It struck her a bit funny that had he been speaking Italian, the TARDIS would translate and he would be easier to understand. 

They finished the meal together. Papa explained that he was an immigrant from Italy when he was a teenager and this actually was his parent’s restaurant that he inherited. He was so into the restaurant that he never found the time to get married or have kids. Layla was the daughter of his “no good brother.” Papa had taken her in when his brother bailed out on the family. He was currently putting Layla through the university. 

“Why did you allow us to come in and help Papa? What if we were bad people?” Rose had rested back in the booth. 

“You look pretty nice, clothes are nice too and you don’t smell bad. When you jump in trash you scream a little. That make me think you not do this often.”

Rose had no idea that she had screamed. It made her laugh that he noticed. Papa continued,” When my parents immigrated to America they left me and my brother. They could not bring us. They had to make money for our trip. They left us with our uncle he was also no good. We had very little to eat, so I was going to beg at a restaurant, but they hired me. Now I return the favor!”

“Well we are certainly grateful you did.” The Doctor was soaking the last bit of sauce on his plate up with a chunk of bread. He popped it into his mouth and continued, ”Are you sure you don’t need help later? We have nowhere to go until our… vehicle is fixed.” 

“Well Layla will be back tonight. I would like you to meet her. But I suppose I could still use help. Where you stay tonight?”

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other. Neither had really thought about it. They both shook their heads. The Doctor spoke first. ”We really don’t have plans yet. We were hoping our vehicle would be fixed, but it hasn’t been as of yet.”

Papa thought for a moment. “Can you stay a week?” 

The other two looked at each other again, shrugged in unison and answered together, ”Yes.”

“Good, you stay here. I have room. You work, you eat, you stay. I make money. When you leave I give you money to go. It’s all good!” Papa grinned widely at them. Papa got up and Rose and the Doctor cleared the plates. They all went back into the kitchen. Before they could start the dishes, however, Papa called them over to a door that Rose had not previously noticed. He opened the door to reveal a small apartment. It had a single twin bed a small table with two chairs, a two-seater couch, a sink and a little divider hiding a toilet and small shower. It was clean but cramped. Papa looked at the bed and then to them. 

The Doctor picked up on the cue. ”Rose can use the bed, I don’t sleep much. This will be fine. Thank you Papa, you are more than generous.”

Rose and the Doctor worked together on the dishes and finished quickly. After that Papa left them alone to acclimate to the apartment while he went upstairs to his own apartment. Rose plopped down on the bed. It was lumpy but soft. She bounced on the mattress a bit. “So how long do you think it will be, the TARDIS I mean?”

He had landed on the couch and had kicked his feet up. “Well, there is really no way to tell. It must have been worse than we thought. Best case scenario will probably be a day or two. Worst would be up to a week. “ 

“I suppose we have it lucky then. That is, if you don’t mind being trapped here with me.”

He sat up and faced her. “Let’s see, free Italian food, nice little living space, and getting to hang out with you? I think I can manage.”

Papa came down after about an hour and knocked on their door. Rose was dosing on the bed and the Doctor had found an old book and was reading quietly on the couch. “Time to prepare for dinner!” he yelled through the door. 

Rose stretched and yawned. “Nice nap?” the Doctor was peering over the back of the couch at her. 

“Yeah”

The Doctor got up and walked over to pull her up. “Shall we get to work?” Rose just nodded.


	5. Chapter 5

When they entered the kitchen Papa had already started with the food preparation. He directed Rose and the Doctor to chop and wash vegetables. The kitchen was old but functional. Not everything worked as well as it should, but everything was working. They noticed Papa banging on things here and there to make them behave. Just as the dinner hour was approaching, a young, tall, dark haired woman came swooping in the back door of the restaurant. “Layla!” Papa yelled as his niece entered. “Come in, this John, this Rose, they work here for a few days.” He nodded towards the Doctor and Rose in turn. They both smiled and nodded to her, their hands busy with their assigned task. 

Layla was gorgeous. She had long shimmering black hair, deep emerald eyes, her skin was olive toned but tan. Her figure was like Rose had seen on the models in her magazines, long, lean and pretty much everything she was not. It struck Rose that Layla should be on a beach somewhere sipping a fruity drink out of a coconut, rather than be in the tiny kitchen of an Italian restaurant. She couldn’t help but notice the Doctor’s glance too. He definitely took his time taking her in. “Blokes” she thought to herself, returning to the tomatoes she was chopping. 

Layla had set her sights on the Doctor too. She looked him up and down and gave him a huge smile. “Hello John and Rose,” she enthusiastically called, but her eyes never left the Doctor. She turned to Papa, “I didn’t think you were hiring anyone Papa.”

“They not stay long, their car break down. They need food and place to sleep. They nice, I help. Plus you work too much at the university, I need help. Now you go get dressed, the customers will be here soon.” Layla kissed Papa on the cheek and headed upstairs. 

When the first customers started to arrive, Papa assigned Layla and the Doctor to work the dining room and Rose to stay in back with him. Rose watched from the kitchen as they put on quite a show. They played off each other, had the customers laughing, and were a great team. In witnessing this, Rose scrubbed every pan within an inch of its life. Comparatively she felt dirty and generally gross since she was having her hands in wash water all day and was rather stained as well, dealing with all the food left on people’s plates. 

Again after everyone had left, around ten o’clock, Papa brought out a huge platter of food and they all ate together. Layla sat next to the Doctor at the table. Rose was the last to arrive after trying to remove a particularly unflattering stain from the middle of her shirt. She ended up against the wall, across from Layla, and diagonal from the Doctor. 

“So John,“ Layla turned to look at him, a little close for Rose’s liking, ”where exactly are you from? You have such an intriguing accent.”

“I’m…uh…we’re from all over.” He indicated Rose with his head. ”We travel, but I suppose you could say we started in London.” He gave Rose a small knowing smile. 

“Where are some of the places you’ve gone?” 

“Um, Berlin, Scotland, New York, oh lots of places. We have a trip to Barcelona planned, don’t we Rose?” 

Rose started to answer but found herself with a mouthful of food. Before she could swallow, Layla pounced again. “Oh that sounds wonderful, I’ve always wanted to go.“ She inched a little closer to him. The Doctor didn’t notice, or didn’t seem to notice. He had no “personal bubble” as Rose liked to call it. He was rather like a toddler in that way; he had no problem being right in someone’s face. Obviously neither did Layla. Rose stabbed another sausage off the platter and dropped it on her plate. 

The Doctor sat back, full from the amazing food Papa had provided. “So Layla, what are you studying at the university?”

“Well, I usually say physics because that’s what most people understand. I get the feeling you know more though.” She winked at him, Rose gagged a little. “I am getting my master’s degree in astrophysics with an emphasis on quantum mechanics.”

The Doctor’s mouth fell open and he abruptly sat up, his face inches from hers. “Really?! I LOVE astrophysics! Can I ask what you specifically you are working on?”

“Well, I am in a research group with fellow students, some faculty members and some really forward thinking physicists. You should see what they are working on. It’s all about matter transfer now. It’s absolutely fascinating!” Her tone had gone up with her volume. It reminded Rose of the Doctor when he got worked up. 

The Doctor sat in rapt attention as Layla explained in detail the research they were doing and what they have achieved. Rose slumped further into her chair. Papa quickly tired of the conversation and nudged Rose. With a sigh she collected the plates and the platter and headed to the kitchen. It was nice, she figured, for the Doctor to have someone that spoke his language, well his physics language anyway. She normally just let him babble, nodding occasionally, but they both knew that he could be saying anything. She had no basis of knowledge to follow what he was talking about. She was beginning to get a few things here and there, and she certainly was no slouch in the general intelligence part, but it was simply something she had never been interested in. Right now though, she wished she had at least taken physics in school. 

Rose and Papa quietly cleaned up the dishes. She could hear the excited conversation between the two in the other room. There was lots of “That’s brilliant!”, and “How did you…?” At some point Rose chose to block it out. She was lost in her own thoughts when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Papa stood behind her wearing a wide smile. He held out some money to her. 

Rose looked at him blankly. Papa pressed the money into her hand and said, ”For you! You are a good worker but you are dirty. You need clothes. Tomorrow you go shopping and get things. I ask Layla, but she doesn’t think her clothes would fit you.”

'Of course not' she thought. “Papa this is very generous of you. Thank you. It is too much though.”

“No you take it, you work hard, John work hard too. Tomorrow you go. If you look good you can be waitress too.” He was still grinning broadly and holding the hand he put the money in. 

“Thank you,” she said quietly, giving him a hug. 

Just then the Doctor and Layla burst into the kitchen. Rose stuffed the money into her pocket. Even though Layla must have known that Papa was giving her money, she didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of seeing her with it. 

Papa approached the Doctor, interrupting him and Layla from their banter. “John, the stove top is not working well. Can you look at it? I think there is a kink in the hose, or a clog, or something.”

“Sure Papa, my pleasure.” With that he took a tool box from a shelf, went to the stove and fiddled with the knobs for a while, turned off the gas supply then finally pulled out the whole unit from the wall to get a better look behind it. 

Rose stood there watching him. Under normal circumstances she enjoyed watching him work. Tonight though, she felt grimy and absolutely exhausted. She looked forward to getting a shower, though the shampoo that Papa provided smelled institutional. The worst part was putting on her dirty clothes again when she was done. She glanced back at the Doctor, he was elbow deep in his work and Layla was hovering near him. Rose opted to take a shower, if nothing else to give herself a break.


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor lay on the floor behind the stove. It was greasy and grimy and most likely had not been cleaned in a very long time. He pulled out globs of grease mixed with lint to get to the gas lines underneath. He had his jacket off, his sleeves rolled up and was almost completely under the unit. He heard the shower start up and figured Rose had gone in. That would mean that he would need to stay out for a while. Normally he didn’t have to worry about personal space, since they had separate rooms in the TARDIS. She actually had to tell him that there were times she needed privacy here. He had accidentally walked in on her when she was on the loo earlier and she chucked a bar of soap at him. He hadn’t even really been paying attention when it happened. He was surprised at how accurate her throw had been. He didn’t even see anything, but she was upset by it and he respected that. 

He had been working under the stove to try to figure it out. Over the years it had been repaired many times, and the Doctor figured the various repair people hadn’t been professional, rather whoever would fit behind the unit. He hadn’t realized how long he had been working until he heard the shower shut off. Rose could take long showers. 

Finally he found what he thought was the root of the problem and was working on a particularly stuck bolt to disconnect the broken part. The wrench slipped and he banged his knuckles on a sharp edge, cutting himself. He let out a yelp and cursed loudly in Gallifreyan. He heard the tapping of shoes and then Layla’s voice. “What was that?”

He inwardly groaned. “It was just a made up word. Um… Rose doesn’t like me to curse.” He lied, raising his voice a little so it didn’t get lost under the stove. He actually was hoping he was alone now, getting these parts apart without losing a finger or blowing the place up was proving to be a challenge. 

Layla leaned over the stove and peered around the back. His head was barely visible. “So I’ve been meaning to ask you,” she said in a low voice, “what exactly is the deal with you and Rose? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend, engaged?” her voice was quiet and directed at him. 

Rose had just plopped down on the bed and was drying her hair with a towel when she heard the Doctor curse. It made her laugh a little. The Gallifreyan even sounded more foreign here if that was possible. She could hear voices now. She had thought the Doctor was alone. She tiptoed over to the door and opened it a crack, grateful that it didn’t squeak. All that extra grease in the air was good for something she thought. She leaned a little closer and could hear Layla using her name. 

“Huh?” was the response that came from behind the stove. 

“You and Rose, what is your relationship status?” 

“Wow… you really… cut to the chase,” his voice was still a bit muffled and halting like he was really busy. Ordinarily this was Rose’s cue to find something else to do rather than distract him. 

Layla leaned a bit farther over to hear him better. “Yeah, people tell me I’m direct.”

There were a few moments of silence. “John?”

“Hmm?”

“Your relationship?”

The Doctor was pulling with everything he had on the wrench. His voice was strained when he answered. “Um…we’re not a couple,” he pulled on the wrench even harder, ”we… are… just… traveling companions.” With a pop the bolt finally gave way. He hit his knuckles again and cursed again, this time not so loudly, and also this time in English. He wiggled around and started to get to his feet. He needed to look for something to fix a pipe with. He stood up and found himself face to face with Layla. She smiled, reached up and wiped a grease glob off his cheek. 

“Good,” she said, climbing down and sauntering up the stairs.

What was good? The Doctor had absolutely no idea what was happening. Then he heard the door to their room click shut. 

***  
An hour or so later the Doctor entered their room quietly. He was wiping the grease from his fingers, trying to avoid his cut from before. He stopped short when he got in. He was fully intending on seeing Rose sitting there reading or watching the small television in the corner. But she was curled up on the bed. He assumed she was sleeping, but he could not hear her normal breathing pattern. He was still just wearing his button down shirt, and tossed his jacket onto the couch. He came up to the bed and sat on the corner, resting his hand on her leg. “Are you ok?” he asked gently. 

Rose was still mad at him, but his gentle demeanor had a way of melting through her funk. She turned to him. “Yeah, just too tired to sleep.” She sat up a little, creating more space for him and he scooted closer. 

“I can’t believe our luck, finding this place. We would still be on the street.” He was grinning at her. 

“Yeah,” she finally smiled. “Papa gave me some money for clothes. I really need some things. You do too.”

“Don’t worry about me, you first.” He pulled her up into a warm hug which she accepted. “We’ll go in the morning before lunch prep starts.”

“Thanks,” she snuggled up to him a little more. He leaned back against the wall and she rested her head on his shoulder. 

The Doctor was quite comfortable sitting there, soon he could feel Rose’s head get heavier and her relax. Minutes later he heard that rhythmic breathing he hadn’t heard before. He waited a little longer, then eased her back down to the mattress, stood and retrieved his book, then returned to his spot on the bed. 

***  
In the morning the Doctor woke Rose early. He had read all night; luckily he had found a box of old books that Papa had stored in the apartment. While Rose attempted to clean herself up and get ready, he went into the kitchen to make breakfast. He had cooked a relatively bland meal of eggs and toast, but Rose enjoyed it after the amazingly rich food she had been eating. 

Setting off together after they had cleaned up, they headed to a nearby discount department store. They split up for a while, initially the Doctor had trailed behind her, talking and commenting. That was until she needed to pick out knickers and she shooed him off. When they met up again she had perused the clearance racks and had come up with a nice pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a white blouse, socks and the aforementioned knickers. Rose then helped him pick out a new shirt and tried to get him into a pair of jeans, but he resisted and she eventually ended up picking out some khaki pants for him. Papa had given them just enough to cover what they had and a few toiletries. Rose was even able to buy a little make-up. She felt a little guilty doing it, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Layla waiting for “John” when they returned. The Doctor insisted too, saying that she should get whatever she needed to be comfortable plus, he added, he liked her strawberry scented shampoo. He even offered to not get his pants, but they ended up finding enough things on sale to help get what they needed.


	7. Chapter 7

When they got back to the restaurant after shopping Rose changed into her new clothes quickly while the Doctor stayed in the kitchen to help Papa. Having something new and clean felt wonderful to Rose. Papa put her to work again as soon as she was ready. The mood was light and fun between the three of them. Layla had gone to class and they handled lunch by themselves. Papa let Rose be a waitress for a while and she found it a lot of fun. Later when it got more hectic in the dining room the Doctor took over, but by then Rose was happy for a little break. 

After Papa fed them again they settled down in their apartment to rest before dinner. It seemed like Rose had just lain down when Papa was knocking on the door again. She looked around but she was alone. The Doctor must have slipped out when she was sleeping. She primped as best as she could, given the time and lack of all her normal products. When she went into the kitchen she found Papa preparing food, and the Doctor and Layla chatting over the sink. He was doing dishes and she was, in Rose’s eyes, standing a bit too close. Rose went to work immediately next to Papa. He wasn’t much for conversation, but even silence with him was comfortable. 

The Doctor and Layla took the dining room again for the dinner service. Even though he had just been there for one evening, the Doctor already had return customers. Rose stood and witnessed a little of the ‘Layla and John Show’ before Papa bellowed something about stirring sauce and she had to focus again. 

Papa loved his new situation. His loyal customers were coming in more often and even bringing friends. He had booked a large party for the next evening too. John was a real draw. People really liked to see him flit about taking orders and making jokes. He was worried a little about Rose though. She seemed more tired than she should be. He was a little embarrassed about Layla too. He knew what a flirt she was. He had seen it in action more than a few times. She had explained to him that John and Rose were just friends, but it was a little hard to believe. He had caught Rose staring at the two of them in the dining room a few times. He took this opportunity to break her concentration since she had been working so hard and the kitchen had been unusually hot tonight. “Rose!” she turned and looked at him. ”Can you go into freezer and check dates on all the meat? There is a clip board in there.” Rose looked at him with a combination of relief and frustration. Without a word she walked into the walk-in freezer. 

Layla and the Doctor finished with clearing the tables and came in to start on the dishes. “Where’s Rose?” the Doctor asked Papa. 

“She in freezer checking meat. She was too hot.”

The Doctor shot a concerned look towards the freezer and started towards it. There was a loud bang and clatter and he whirled around to find Layla had dropped several pans on the floor. He hurried over to help her with them. 

“So John, do you have plans for tonight?” Layla was kneeling on the floor very close to the Doctor.

“I don’t know we hadn’t discussed anything really.” He jerked his head, indicating Rose in the freezer. 

“Well after dinner is over my friends and I were going to meet at a coffee house down the street. I’d really like you to meet them. We even have some researchers in from out of town. There are giving a symposium right now. I really wish I could have gone but… anyway I think they would like you.”

The Doctor was a little put aback by her invitation. On one hand, he normally spent the evenings with Rose, but on the other hand talking with the physicists would be huge for him. The thought of possibly collaborating with some of the brightest minds in physics was energizing. 

“Oh, I’d love to!” he finally exclaimed. 

“Great we can go after-“

“After he fixes the refrigerator!” Papa yelled from across the room. The Doctor frowned a little. He knew that it most likely involved crawling around in back of another appliance. Hopefully this one would be less dirty. 

It wasn’t. The Doctor was behind the refrigerator trying to fix the motor without removing it entirely when Rose came out of the freezer. She looked refreshed after cooling down both physically and mentally. “Hey there” she said, peering around the side but only seeing legs. 

“Rose? Is that you?” It was hard to hear him. He had the case off the motor and was tinkering with it. 

“Do you need me to hold the light?” 

“What?” his voice was echoing from inside the back of the fridge. 

“Do need a light?!” she raised her voice. 

“No, Papa had a head lamp.” He called back. 

Rose was a little disappointed with this just because ‘official light holder’ was often her job. After he had spent the evening with Layla, she was eager to re-connect with him. “So do you want to head down the boardwalk tonight? Papa told me it was beautiful at night.”

The Doctor was finally making headway with the little motor. It was old too, and some of the gears were slipping. He was delicately trying to balance them and get them to meet up correctly as a temporary fix until he could get parts. The pieces kept shifting and it was becoming tremendously frustrating. He could hear Rose talking, but honestly all his attention was focused on the irritating machine in front of him. 

“Can you hear me?” 

“Yeah Rose, it’s fine,” he still sounded very distracted. 

“Oh good, I’m going for a shower!” she said happily as she headed in to shower. 

The Doctor replaced the shell on the motor and plugged it back in and it whirred to life. “AHA!” he exclaimed. “Rose? What were you saying?” He squirmed out from behind the refrigerator and looked around. No one was in the kitchen. “Oh well,” he thought out loud, “she’ll tell me later.” He went to wash his hands and get ready to have coffee with Layla and her friends. 

He could hear the shower start up in their room. He knew that going in may be a death sentence but he really wanted to change into his new shirt and pants. He hadn’t changed when Rose did earlier and he needed a fresh shirt badly. He peeked into the room. From his vantage point he couldn’t see her in the shower. “I’m not looking!” he yelled as he entered the room. “I’m just grabbing some things. I’m going out. I’ll be back later. Don’t wait up!” He grabbed his clothes and dashed out the door before she could throw anything. 

Rose had been rinsing out her hair when he came in. She didn’t really care much; the shower was obscured by a divider. It was just fun to yell at him. She couldn’t hear exactly what he said though because of the water in her ears. “What? Doc- um John?” she called out, but the door had already been shut. No matter, she would talk to him after she was done. She came out, careful to make sure he wasn’t lying on the couch, got dressed and did her hair in braids. She picked up another of her new shirts out and put it on. She even took the time to apply eye makeup. More than anything it was a futile attempt to cover up how tired she looked. 

She came out into the kitchen and saw that it was vacant. Papa had gone to bed and the Doctor and Layla were nowhere to be found. After waiting for an hour Rose opted to grab some leftover food that Papa kept and watch some telly. She couldn’t imagine what was keeping the Doctor. She figured he was maybe running an errand for Papa or something. He was always reliable. Eventually her exhaustion won and she lay down for the night. 

Meanwhile the Doctor was having a wonderful time. The walk to the coffee house was short, and if he had been paying attention he would have noticed that Layla was walking very close to him, maybe trying to catch his hand. He kept his hands firmly in his pants pockets, out of habit mainly. Layla’s friends were lively and nice. The Doctor loved being in the company of so many bright minds. He mostly listened and took in the information that they provided. He knew exactly what they were discussing, but he had to be very careful not to comment on anything that may not be from this century or was alien technology. 

He discussed some of the theories with them and was surprised to find that they really were on the right track and they were more advanced than he had imagined. There was one young man in particular named Mitch who seemed especially bright. He also had an eye for Layla. But who wouldn’t? She was just as smart as everyone in the group and she was really attractive. They were deep into a friendly argument when the manager of the coffee house came over and told them he had to close. They are stepped outside into the humid night. The Doctor felt a chill but in his haste in changing shirts he had forgotten his suit jacket back at the restaurant. 

The group parted ways with a promise to meet up at the restaurant after closing in two days because they all planned to work late the next night. Mitch joined the Doctor and Layla on the way back. “John?” he asked, “How is it that you have a doctorial level of knowledge in astrophysics but no degree?” 

The Doctor hadn’t realized that he had said much, but that was usually the case. Sometimes things just came slipping out. In that loud conversation is was easy to do. He recalled tossing out a few ideas and agreeing with things, I retrospect he may have been trying to keep up without realizing it. He blushed a little. “Well it’s just a hobby really. Going to a traditional university was never a possibility for me. So I guess I just lived and learned.” He hoped his excuse was enough to bluff Mitch. 

“Really? That’s quite a hobby.”

Layla jumped in. “He’s really a practical person. He has a lot of life experience. I can tell.” She looped her arm around his. “I’m cold!” In response to this the Doctor moved his hand so it was not as deeply in his pocket, making a little more room between them. Layla didn’t seem to notice. When they reached the restaurant, the Doctor ducked inside, leaving Mitch and Layla alone. She was getting a little too close for comfort. He wondered if that was just how she was or if there were other intentions. He hadn’t picked up on many cues before tonight, but then again he hadn’t been looking for them. 

The Doctor glanced at the clock on the wall. He knew exactly what time it was all the time, but he glanced at it anyway. It was midnight. He had not intended on staying out so late. In reality it was only 2 hours since he left, but he knew Rose would be tired and he wanted to talk to her, as always, before she slept. He may even need a little kip himself tonight. He quietly opened the door, making sure to not make noise should she already be sleeping. She wasn’t. She was sitting on the couch, fully dressed, hair done in braids reading a book. He closed the door behind him and smiled at her. “Honey I’m home!”

She didn’t look up. “Hello” it was devoid of emotion, eyes fixed on the book. 

“Rose, you look lovely. Why are you all done up?” he was truly confused.

“Because somebody said he would take a walk on the boardwalk with me tonight, and then left.”

“Who?”

“Are you joking?” She looked at him incredulously. “You did!”

“I did?” 

“Yes, did you bang your head or something? You told me when you were fixing the refrigerator.” 

It dawned on him that he actually didn’t know what she said when he had been wedged in there. He could have agreed to anything. 

He rushed to her and knelt in front of her, removing the book and taking her hands. “Oh Rose, I am so sorry. I didn’t hear you and I was really into fixing that motor. Layla had asked me to meet her friends earlier. I didn’t realize you were making plans. I am an idiot.”  
Rose smiled a little. “I agree, you are an idiot.” I struck her that he had gone out with Layla and didn’t take her, even though she wouldn’t have been the least bit interested. 

Before she could think about it anymore, he was talking again. “So, tomorrow night, I promise. You and I, on the boardwalk, doing whatever people do on a boardwalk.”

“Just us?” she asked hopefully.

That confirmed it, he was an idiot. In her experience with Timelords she knew one thing for sure, for all the genius they possessed, they had very little grasp of the obvious. She squeezed his hand a little and began to prepare for bed. 

This time he offered to read to her until she was sleepy with a similar bed arrangement as the night before. He really did not mind sitting there until she fell asleep. It was repayment, as far as he was concerned, for all the nightmares that she had acquired since travelling with him. Besides, relaxing on the bed and reading to her would be a fun habit to get into.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day went by quickly. Business was picking up, especially at lunch. Papa let Rose run the dining room by herself for the lunch crowd. She found it exhausting but fun. She even got a fair amount of tips. She tried to give them to Papa but he told her that they were hers. Rose needed a nap badly after that though. It was a bit concerning to the Doctor that she tired so quickly. She brushed it off by saying that she was more tired because of learning something new and having to run around so much. 

The dinner service was just crazy. The Doctor managed the front, but he had to move twice as fast because Layla wasn’t there and there was a large dinner party right in the middle of everything. Rose was relieved that he took it upon himself. She was much happier in the back when it was that busy. Papa also made sure that he got all his tip money too. The Doctor tried to insist that he didn’t need it since they were getting room and board, but he lost. Rose got the impression that Papa did not lose too many arguments. He fed them well again that after the customers left. Without Layla there Papa was a little more willing to tell stories about his childhood. Rose really enjoyed them. Papa was one of those men who had no idea just how charming and intelligent he was. 

Finally after everything was nearly cleaned up, the Doctor sent Rose to freshen up and get ready for their night out. Truthfully Rose was completely knackered. She would have loved to curl up and have the Doctor just read to her for a while. However, she wanted to show that she could keep up. Layla seemed to do it so easily. 

Lucky for Rose, the boardwalk was lively and the energy was contagious. It was bathed in the glow of millions of warm white lights strung in every tree along the way as well as on all the bridges and walkways .There was a variety of brightly lighted fun stores and delightful smells from restaurants and sweet shops. 

Rose and the Doctor were just walking, surveying the scene. They were holding hands as usual when Rose looked up at him. “So what were you doing last night?”

“Hmm?”

“Last night, when you were out with with Layla and her friends.”

“Oh they were just discussing their research and some of the hypothesizes they were working on. They are quite advanced for what I know of this time.”

“Aren’t you light years ahead of them? So to speak.”

“Yes and no, it’s all very abstract. I just love watching young minds work, Rose. They are so bright and full of promise. They are really pushing the limits of the science. I felt like I was one of them. These are my people, Rose. It’s like they know my language. It’s so fulfilling!”

Without realizing it, he had just dealt Rose a huge blow. She looked at the ground unwillingly. She couldn’t deny, it, they were his people. She had no way to compete. It was all so draining. She loosened her grip a little on his hand as they walked on. He stopped and stared at her.

“What?” he looked at her confused again. 

“How do you expect me to keep up with that?”

He drew her in a little closer, inches from his face. “Rose Tyler, don’t you think for a moment that you are not brilliant.”

“I…” she really didn’t know what to say.

“You may not be a precocious physicist but you have many talents. I have seen you look down the face of danger with a smile, or fight beasts, then turn on a dime and be sensitive and kind. Few have those abilities, Rose. And just when I think you have shown me all you have, you surprise me and pull something completely new out. You amaze me every day and I never want you to stop.”

This perked her up a bit. He hugged her tightly, lifting her off her feet and wiggled her in the air. Finally she started to giggle. Her laughter turned to coughs and he set her down gently. “What’s that about?” he asked. 

“Just a throat tickle, I’ve had it on and off all day. No big deal.”

They set off again, hand in hand, to explore the shops before they closed for the night. The Doctor found a rare book store tucked away off an alleyway. Rose left him to bury himself in books and poked around in various souvenir and clothing shops. She found a cute summer dress and some nice sandals as well as a delicate shell necklace for her mum. The Doctor met up with her again after a bit, his arms filled with old books. She got them both an ice cream and they sat down to share their newly acquired treasures. The cool dessert felt good on her irritated throat. Rose finished and rested back as the Doctor babbled on about this book and that book. His enthusiasm was usually contagious, but she was pretty much at the end of her energy. 

“Are you alright?” He had put a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

“Hmm?” she hadn’t realized it, but she had rested her head back and must have dosed off. “Oh sorry. Busy day I suppose. Can we go back? I really need to sleep.”

“Sure, can I carry anything for you?”

“Besides me?”

He looked down at all his books then back to her guiltily. She laughed at him. “I was kidding, you git. I’m fine.” In reality though, getting back was a bit of a struggle. Rose hit the bed as soon as they returned, by the time the Doctor had gathered the book that he was reading to her, she was already fast asleep. 

***   
Banging on the door woke Rose from a sound sleep. She was alone in the apartment; the Doctor must have slipped out to check the TARDIS. Rose did not feel well. Her throat was dry and scratchy, and her body ached. She dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. Slowly she began to feel better. The steam helped and she felt much more awake. The aspirin that Papa provided helped too. The Doctor came back in as she was drying her hair. 

“I went to on the TARDIS, I can still hear some of the alarms going off, she’s still detoxing herself. Hopefully not long now though.”

“Can anyone hear the alarms from the outside?”

“Nah, they are pretty muted with the door closed. With the perception filter I doubt anyone has even noticed her.” 

Rose and the Doctor went out to help Papa with the lunch prep. Papa and the Doctor chatted away, but Rose was grateful that she was not in on the conversation. It took everything she had just to concentrate on the task at hand. He wanted her to manage the front during lunch again too. She accepted and did a great job. They had a large party of businessmen in and she handled it all with grace. At the end of the lunch hour, the Doctor stepped in to give her a hand. He had been watching her and noticed she was beginning to slow down. Still the party left and gave a great tip. After they closed again the Doctor sent her to bed, brought her lunch and ordered her to rest. He sat with her and read to her, after he’d helped clean up, until she fell asleep. 

Papa let Rose sleep through dinner prep. Layla arrived and helped out anyway. She reminded the Doctor that her friends were coming over for dinner and drinks after the restaurant closed. “Oh lovely,” he said, ”now I can introduce Rose to them.” He didn’t catch Layla’s scowl as she chopped onions. 

Rose came out of the apartment bleary eyed just as dinner started. The Doctor swooped over and hugged her. “Are you ok?”

“Much better, thanks for letting me sleep.”

She didn’t look much better, he thought. He was reaching for his stethoscope when he realized he had taken his suit jacket off and was just wearing his white shirt and khakis. He went to retrieve it in the apartment when Layla called from the dining room. The first customers were arriving and she needed a hand. Rose pushed him towards the front with a smile and went about her work in the back. 

Again dinner was quite an event. Layla and the Doctor were great together. She played off of him, openly flirted and laughed out loud. He managed to keep his distance mostly, but as the night wore on she seemed to be getting closer and closer. At one point Rose was sure she saw her going to pat him on the butt but he danced away just before she could. 

Back in the kitchen Rose was not doing well. Watching Layla traipse around annoyed her and she was having increasing difficulty suppressing the urge to jam a large spoon up her nose. Physically she was suffering too. Her body felt as if she had sand bags taped to her feet and arms. She felt flashes of hot and cold, as well as sweating profusely; being in a hot kitchen only added to the misery. The throat tickle had evolved into a deep cough. She tried very hard to not cough or to step outside when she had the urge. Papa kept eyeing her from the stove. She didn’t want the Doctor to worry so she kept most of the coughs in. Besides, he was busy entertaining the customers and as of right now she was not wanting him to overreact. 

Finally all the dinner customers left and Rose sat down hard on a chair at the back of the kitchen. “You look like death with a side order of death!” Papa announced from across the kitchen. “You go lay down before you fall down.”


	9. Chapter 9

Rose shuffled towards the apartment. She glanced into the dining room just in time to see Layla produce a well-worn notebook and begin to show the Doctor what was in it. He was instantly entranced, slipping on his glasses and looking closer. Rose couldn’t help but notice that Layla’s arm was draped over his shoulders as she leaned in to explain the contents of her notes. He most likely didn’t even notice, Rose thought. Under normal circumstances she would have gone in and artfully broken them apart, but tonight was different. She barely had the strength to stumble to bed. Just as the lost sight of them and reached for the door to her room, she could hear the front door open and all Layla’s friends loudly announce their presence. They were greeted by matching loud salutations from the Doctor and Layla. Rose closed the door behind her and collapsed on the bed. 

Layla’s friends enjoyed a great meal that Papa had provided. The conversation was lively and the Doctor was in his element. Some of the graduate students that he had not met yet brought a bottle of scotch and they all were having drinks, though he wasn’t terribly fond of it and only sipped a bit to be nice. He did enjoy a little wine that Layla provided though, as it matched well with the food. Someone produced a bunch of cigars and lit them up, the Doctor passed when offered. The students talked about projects and research. There were a few teachers included in the group and they spurred the students on. Even the Doctor added his thoughts here and there. The debates and stories got more humorous and louder as the night wore on and the scotch bottle got emptier. 

At some point the Doctor looked around and was shocked and a little embarrassed to notice that Rose was not with them. He gathered up the plates and platters and headed to the kitchen. Layla was close on his heels, grabbing a few items off the table too. 

“They’re fantastic aren’t they? Dr. Schmidt really has taken our program to a new level.” She had started to load the dishwasher. 

“Yeah,” he looked around again, “have you seen Rose?” He reached for the dish sprayer to spray off the platters. 

“Oh I hadn’t noticed she was missing.” Layla had joined him at his side and had started to scrub something. At one point she reached out for the sprayer and was face to face with him. 

He jumped back with a start. “I…I… need to go check on Rose,” he stammered and darted to the apartment. 

The door opened quietly and he stepped into the dark room. He had no problem seeing her though, curled up on the bed. 

“Rose? Are you asleep? You really should come out and meet these people. They’re amazing. This Dr. Schmidt has been doing some really outstanding things.” Out of habit more than anything, he clicked on the light and she groaned. 

“Oh good you’re up!” he plopped down on the bed. This elicited another groan. She pushed herself up to sitting, then rotated and leaned up on the wall next to him. 

She sniffed, “Eww you smell like smoke and what, scotch and wine?”

“Sorry, I only sampled the scotch but I did have some wine. I’m not drunk though, far from it actually. I certainly didn’t smoke, that’s terrible. Wait, since when does all this bother you?”

“It doesn’t,” she huffed. She wanted to tell him that she wanted Layla to leave him alone and that she felt inadequate amongst his new friends, even though she hadn’t actually been around them. The whole situation made her mad and frustrated, and she had no capacity for that right now. It irked her that he was oblivious to Layla, or at least she thought he was. Honestly it also bothered her that he was having fun when she wasn’t. The last bit she knew was petty. But she gave herself the right because she was sick. She scooted a little away from him; the different smells on him were making her stomach turn. 

“Rose,” he started, “sorry, I kind of got caught up in… well, them. It’s all so interesting!” He held out an arm to pull her in again but she resisted. This time it was his turn to sniff. He leaned over breathing in, and she recoiled.

“What are you doing?” 

“Are you alright? You smell... off.”

“You should talk.”

“No Rose,” he leaned in even closer, right up next to her face. He could smell the strawberry of her shampoo and something else. His proximity made her shiver and she turned to look at him. He had his tongue out, approaching, looking as if he was going to lick her face. 

“AHHH! Get off!” She pushed him hard against the chest. “What is wrong with you?”

“I…I…”he stammered, “I was just trying to, umm, see what was wrong with you. I can tell these things you know.” He smoothed down his shirt, looking annoyed. 

Rose was livid. It was the culmination of feeling sick, tired, being angry about Layla, as well as him smelling of with wine, scotch and smoke and assuming nothing was wrong. “Leave me alone; go back to ‘your people’.” She made big quotation marks in the air. Rose knew she was overreacting but she had reached the end of her rope. Her last words stung him. He stood and turned for the door. 

“Call me if you need me.”

“Just GO! And keep it down!” She flopped back down on the bed. 

“Fine” he said as the the door clicked shut behind him. 

***   
Rose slept fitfully that night. She coughed a lot, and had a fleeting memory of the Doctor touching her shoulder once, which she shrugged off. She woke up early and saw that the Doctor had actually fallen asleep on the couch, feet propped up on a box, book open on his chest. When he did fall asleep he slept very hard, but she was quiet anyway and grabbed her shoes and stepped into the kitchen without a sound. She took two steps in and was doubled over with a coughing fit. She coughed so hard she started to gag. She also had sharp pains in her head and chest with every one of them. She felt a hand on her back. “You OK? My cousin is a nurse; you want I should call her?” It was Papa. Rose stood up and steadied herself hanging on to the counter. 

“I’m fine Papa, thanks. Where are you going?” He had his coat on and a large empty fabric shopping bag in his hand. 

“Oh, my friend Rita call, she has a bakery. She had a lot of bread left over and want to give it to me for croutons. She work a few blocks down, so I am walking down.”

“Papa, can I go?” Rose felt a strong urge to get out, maybe fresh air and a distinctly Layla free environment would make her feel better. 

“You sick! No, I go, you stay here, but no coughing in the kitchen.”

She smiled. “No Papa, I really want to go. A walk would be good for me, please?”

“Fine, go three streets down. Pink building. Smells like cake. Here take money too, get coffee for you, you look like zombie.” Papa grinned at her and handed over the bag and a few bills. 

Rose took the money, she knew by now there was no denying him. She stepped out into the alley and took a deep breath. It was a nice warm day. Some storm clouds brewing to the south, but the sun was bright and warmed her chest. She coughed a bit when she started but kept a steady pace. It felt good to be out. She stopped at a coffee house along the way. The warm liquid felt great. She had a few more small coughing fits, but kept going. 

She crossed the last street and could see the pink bakery. Her feet had begun to feel heavy again. She shuffled a bit and suddenly was very dizzy. She leaned against the nearest building; the sidewalk was swimming beneath her. She could feel a cough brewing; actually it was more than one. She doubled over again and was wracked with spasm after spasm. With every cough her head throbbed and her abdomen clenched. She couldn’t catch her breath in between fits. Her vision started to blacken around the edges and she pitched forward, hitting her face on the concrete. Her coffee spilled all over and the cup rolled away. She wanted to cry out, but there was no breath to do it with. Slowly the blackness spread and then there was nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

The Doctor woke and stretched. He had not intended on sleeping. Rose shrugged him off when he went to check on her and he had hovered around her anyway most of the night. She finally quieted down just before dawn and he sat down to read. His eyes got heavier and he closed them for what he thought would be a few minutes and it ended up being a few hours. Though when he looked back he hadn’t slept in about a week and had been doing a lot. He sat up and peered over to the bed, fully expecting Rose to be there, hopefully in a better mood. He figured she just didn’t feel good and perhaps they had been a bit loud last night. 

His eyes met an empty bed, sheets tangled. She must have gone out to help Papa with some prep work. He supposed she must be feeling better. He got up, took a quick shower and changed his clothes. He smiled when he noticed Rose had washed his other shirt and pants and folded them for him. He often didn’t notice the little sweet things she did for him, and he made a mental note to thank her specifically for this. He hummed to himself while putting on his shoes. Just as he was standing up, when there was a light knock at the door. He looked up and Layla was pushing the door open. 

“John?”

“Yes? Oh hello Layla what can I do for you?”

“Oh I was just coming to invite you to a lecture. Dr. Schmidt is presenting his paper and I thought you would be interested.”

“When is it?”

“Now, well in 45 minutes. If we leave now we can make it.”

The Doctor contemplated the invitation. He really would like to hear shat Dr. Schmidt had to say. The man was brilliant after all. He really wanted to talk to Rose though, see if she was ok. She really had smelled odd last night. If she had only let him lick her, it was going to only be a little lick anyway, just to help him analyze her sweat. Maybe, on second thought, that might have been off-putting. He figured next time he would actually ask for permission.

“John?”

“Oh sorry, have you seen Rose? I need to speak to her before I go anywhere.”

“She’s not here, neither is Papa, they probably are together. He loves having a little friend run errands with him. I did it all the time when I was a little girl.”

The Doctor looked at her. Was she being conversational or was that a veiled insult? It was hard to tell, and Layla wore such an innocent and sweet face. He figured that it must have been nothing. 

“Well then, I’ll leave her a note and we can go. We’ll be back for lunch right?” He was scribbling on a scrap of paper. 

“We should be.” She grinned widely at him. He tossed the note on the bed and headed for the back door. They left and went down the street to where Layla’s car was parked. Just then an ambulance came screaming around the corner and shot down the street. “Crazy drivers” Layla commented as she looped her arm around his. He was watching the ambulance and didn’t really notice. 

***   
Papa returned from doing some shopping to the phone ringing in the kitchen. He looked around annoyed that no one had gotten it and dropped his bags on the counter. He snatched up the phone and yelled into the receiver. “What?” It was Rita, the baker. Rose had never made it, she was wondering if she should send someone down with the bread. Papa felt a cold shiver down his spine. He ended the call with Rita and looked around. He picked up the phone again and punched in Layla’s cell number. It went right to voice mail. He then peeked into the little apartment and it was empty. 

He left through the back door and tried to retrace her steps. A shadow darkened the alley around him and he looked up. Storm clouds were brewing more now, but he didn’t feel like he had time to go and search for an umbrella. He walked along, came up to the coffee shop and asked if they had seen her. The young man remembered the nice blonde girl who looked pale. He pointed down the road to indicate her direction then had to serve another customer. Papa headed down and crossed the last street before the bakery when something caught his eye. It was his grocery bag. He hurried over and picked it up. It was wet with coffee; the cup had landed in the gutter. He looked down; there was a small pool of blood on the concrete. He looked closer, and saw various discarded gloves and detritus including needle caps and the plastic bags that house IV bags. He remembered seeing a similar situation on one of his favorite crime shows. This was all trash left by a busy ambulance crew. He turned and ran towards the restaurant. Something was very wrong. 

Papa made it back to the restaurant just as the Doctor and Layla were returning. They took him in, red faced and out of breath. “Rose…” he gasped, “something wrong…”   
“What happened? Where is Rose?” the Doctor demanded. Papa put up his hand to silence the Doctor while he caught his breath. Layla led him into the kitchen and gave him a drink of water while the Doctor paced, obviously using every bit of patience he had not to scream and drag the words out of Papa. 

Finally Papa was able to take a deep breath and spoke. “I sent Rose for bread, she never came back. I went, I saw blood and trash from an ambulance. We need to get to hospital.” 

“Which one?” Layla asked

“I don’t know” replied Papa.

***   
Rose couldn’t breathe. She had a brick wall on her chest and was suffocating. People kept grabbing her and holding her and she tried desperately to fight back. Her chest hurt so badly. She thrashed and fought, trying to free herself. She felt a strong arm holding hers down and a prick of pain on the inside of her elbow. She tried to reach for it with the other hand but was held down. There were loud voices in her ear telling her to be calm but she couldn’t. She had to breathe and it wasn’t working. She felt another strong hand on her forehead pushing her down and a cool plastic mask on her face. There was a rush of air over her lips and she could feel her lungs fill; then another, and another. Air was rhythmically filling her lungs. She relaxed a bit. The pressure of the mask was painful and she could feel someone’s hand pushing hard on her face holding the mask on, but it was air and it felt better. She finally could make out some of the voices; but just bits and pieces of conversation talking about tubes and medicine. She opened her eyes and was met by a bright light and shadows of people moving quickly around her. 

“No we don’t know a name, she had no ID” said one voice. 

“Her oxygen saturation is better, but still only 80%” said another. 

“Let’s get those meds on board so we can paralyze her and intubate. She needs to be on a vent” said a third. 

Then the bright lights went black.


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor was frantic. He madly paced around the kitchen running his hands through his hair and mumbling to himself. Layla had explained that there were several hospitals close and she would need to call around to find where she was. Finally after calling 3 different facilities she found one who had a nameless blonde girl about twenty. They all piled in the car. No one even looked at the line of disappointed lunch customers by the front door of the restaurant. 

Upon arrival the three ran into the emergency department. The Doctor approached the front desk but was so frantic the poor older lady couldn’t understand him. Papa was yelling too. Layla pushed past the boys and spoke calmly with the lady who turned to the Doctor. “Are you her husband?”

The Doctor froze, his face blank. Ten thousand explanations flew around in his head. He stood there with his mouth open and his Adam’s apple bobbing. Layla finally answered, “Yes, he’s her husband. Pardon him, his English isn’t that good. His name is John.” She turned and looked at him expectantly. 

“Smith, J-J- John Smith,” the Doctor finished. 

The receptionist nodded and indicated for them to take a seat, telling them that she would contact the nurse in charge. Layla had to pull the Doctor away and make him sit. He sat down hard, head in his hands. Normally he was the one who helped Rose but not today. He had a sneaking suspicion that maybe this time it was out of his hands. 

It took about an hour for the charge nurse to come out. Even though the Doctor knew the exact time, felt like ten hours. That whole time he didn’t move; head resting in his hands. “John Smith?” she called. He jumped up and all but ran to her. Layla followed. “Just him dear, just the husband for now,” the nurse was nice but her voice was firm. 

“Hi Mr. Smith, my name is Tina. The front desk tells me that you may be the husband of the young lady we have here. First I want to bring you in to help identify her.” He nodded without speaking. She led him to a row of rooms with sliding glass doors. She stopped at one that was labeled ‘Trauma 1’. She encouraged him to approach the window and look through. “Is that her Mr. Smith?”

A cold chill covered the Doctor. His hearts sped up but his brain slowed down. He reached up and put his hand on the glass and stepped even closer, this breath fogging up the window. Rose lay there on the table. Her eyes were closed. She had a big tube coming out of her mouth that was attached with a strap that went around the back of her head. The strap totally covered her mouth. She had IV lines running into both arms and was also disturbingly pale. There was a large puffy bandage around her forehead too and dried blood stuck to her cheeks. A machine to her left could be heard ticking and pushing air. Her chest rose in time with the machine. 

“Mr. Smith?” Tina started again. 

“Yes, that’s my…wife. Her name is Rose Tyler. What happened?” He could not take his eyes off of her. His voice was barely audible. 

“We don’t know Mr. Smith-“

“John…”

“Ok, John.”

“Can I go to her?”

“It’s really not a good idea just yet.”

He looked up at her and said simply, “Please.”

Tina sighed, “Only for a minute.”

“Thank you,” he whispered as he walked into the room. There were two other nurses in the room adjusting this and that and generally attending to her. It was hard for the Doctor to find an area of Rose that was not hooked to something. He came along her side and reached out for her hand. He took it in his. It was cold and did not respond to his touch; nothing, no squeeze, no reaction at all. He held it gently for a moment afraid to move it any more, willing for it to warm up and to embrace his hand like it always did. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder. “John?” it was Tina again, “her doctor would like to speak with you. We probably better do it in the consultation room. Come with me please.” She started to walk away but stopped and waited for him. It took a long moment but he finally peeled his eyes away, let go of her hand and followed the nurse. 

The emergency doctor was a nice looking man in his 50’s. He had a grey, neatly trimmed goatee and matching grey hair. He wore a nice smile and sat across from the clearly distressed Doctor. “John,” he started,” I’m Dr. North. Your wife is very sick. She has a high fever and some sort of respiratory problem. Her lungs are full of secretions. She has gone into complete respiratory failure and we have her on a ventilator, we are breathing for her now. Do you know? Has she been sick? Does she normally have any trouble breathing?”

“No she’s normally healthy. She just started getting sick yesterday. I didn’t think it was anything. I actually haven’t seen her today,” his incredible guilt was clearly evident in his voice. 

“Is anyone around her sick?”

“No”

“Does she have any other significant medical history?”

“No”

“Where does she work?”

“At a restaurant.”

“Any chemical exposures?”

“No”

“How about foreign travel?”

Boom. The Doctor looked up at Dr.North, is face going pale. In his panic he hadn’t thought about what had brought them here to this time in the first place. “Maybe, we were traveling, and she may have been exposed to something.”

“Do you know what? We’re going to get her admitted to ICU and we will run more tests, but it would be helpful if we know what-”

The Doctor stood suddenly. “I have to go… Can you let…um her father and…sister back to be with her?” Dr. North barely had time to nod and the Doctor was out the door. He ran by Rose, skidding to a stop taking in all he could of her. His hearts squeezed painfully and he stifled a sob. He straightened up, ran for the waiting room, snatched the car keys from an obviously surprised Layla and ran for her car.


	12. Chapter 12

The rain had started now. It poured down on the Doctor as he ran. He angrily wiped it from his eyes but kept running to the car. In just the short trip to the car he was soaked to the bone. The streets were filled with big puddles and slow drivers, it was slow going and it was torture. He finally got back, parked and ran for the TARDIS. His clothes were soaked through and he was profoundly cold. He refused to let himself shiver though. He reached in his coat pocket for the key and jammed it in the lock. It wouldn’t turn. He jiggled it around and tried again. Nothing. He had so much brewing inside him, anger, guilt, sadness, helplessness. He could not let her die, not here, not now. He banged with all his might on the doors, begging to be let in. “Please!!! I know you are sick but PLEASE let me in!” He reached out not only with his mind trying to contact the TARDIS, but verbally as well. He kicked and hit and yelled until…CLICK. It was the positively the most wonderful sound in the history of the universe. He pushed the door open and stepped in. 

The air smelled musty inside. There were still alarms going off all and he could do was hope most of the air had been mostly scrubbed. To his relief the blossom was still on the console. He put his hand over his mouth, picked it up with a pair of pliers and ran for his lab. 

When he got to his lab he donned a thick mask, gloves and a lab coat knowing full well that he may already have been exposed. He took a close look at the blossom and could see that there was some residual pollen still stuck to the inside. He extracted a bit for analysis of the toxin it carried and took a picture of the flower to run through every known database. This would take time. Unfortunately it was time Rose did not have.

It started slowly for him, a tickle in his throat at first. He was busy assembling the equipment he would need to make an effective antidote to the pollen and mostly ignored it. He could not let it alarm him. Losing focus could mean losing Rose. 

When the analysis was done he had to do hours of research to find what could treat the toxin. The pictures and journals he found were grim. Patients frequently died from exposures. Its effect on lung tissue was horrific. Many died within the first 24 hours of respiratory complications. He pushed all this information to the back of his mind and forged ahead. If he could stop the advance of the toxin and get her to the TARDIS he could work on turning around the damage with the help of some alien science. He had even found some positive accounts of people being treated just after exposure that did very well. It was also possible that Earth’s modern medicine could make great strides with her if he could just get her started. 

Finally, hours later he had a break through. He was coughing regularly now and had chills. Fevers were rare for him but clouded his mind and generally slowed him down. Focusing on the task at hand was becoming increasingly difficult, he had to stop frequently and the exhaustion was crippling. How had Rose maintained working through this? “AHA!” he said to no one in particular. He found that the toxin could be treated by a delicate mixture of several chemicals of alien origin. This muddied the waters tremendously. He had to acquire the chemicals first, which required piloting the TARDIS very quickly and accurately. She was still cleaning herself too, which may make her sluggish. Wait, he thought. The blossom had come from Manrai’s planet. He had to know about it. Maybe there was a cure. Of course he would have to adapt it for human use and Timelord too for that matter. 

He stumbled to the console room coughing, hacking and taking every ounce of energy. He leaned heavily on the console, wheezing. He pulled over the monitor and typed frantically on the keyboard. There was static on the monitor at first, then a ringing sound, and then a young man was on the screen. He looked slightly like a younger version of Manrai. The Doctor choked out his story to the rather started person on the other end. The young man identified himself as Gerrio and went to fetch Manrai. When the older man finally appeared on the screen about 5 minutes later he had to yell to rouse the Doctor. 

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor apologized then was gripped in a coughing fit. 

Manrai looked concerned. “You look horrible. Did you get exposed to a Piloa blossom?” He rummaged around on the table below him and produced a picture. The Doctor only nodded. 

“Rose too?” More nodding. “Can you make it here? I can get medicine for you two. You know you’ll have to adapt it somewhat.” One final nod and the Doctor entered the coordinates and slammed back the lever to take off. 

A short time later the Doctor made his way to the TARDIS door. He opened it and standing in front of him was the tall figure of Manrai. He was wearing a gas mask and holding a small bottle of purple solution, which he held out for the Doctor to take. “The instructions are on the bottle for oral and intravenous uses. Good luck,” his voice was muffled under the mask. The Doctor smiled weakly and took the bottle. 

Back in the lab he hunched over the table. Measuring and doing the mathematic conversions required to get the correct dosages of the medicine was near impossible. His chills were so bad that he shook violently all over, as well as sweating profusely. He had to stop every time he was starting to cough so as not to spill anything. It took every last shred of his resolve to finish. As soon as he was able to he knocked back his oral dose. The liquid was slimy and burned on the way down. The taste was positively revolting. He gagged multiple times, and then took ragged breaths to try to keep from vomiting. Slowly the nausea passed and he gathered Rose’s dose, pulled it up into a syringe, set it into a little case and dropped it in his pocket. 

Outside it was still raining. Just as he set foot through the TARDIS doors he had another coughing fit that brought him to his knees. It was not lost on him that his world was collapsing. The pain he felt over maybe losing Rose was more than he had ever felt. He could always regenerate, but she would be gone forever. Slowly he but one foot down, grabbed ahold of the TARDIS and dragged himself to standing. One step at time he made his way back to the car.


	13. Chapter 13

Papa sat at Rose’s bedside holding her hand. He had cried when he first saw her in that bed covered in wires and tubes. Her face was very swollen, her hair was matted with blood and she had started to bleed through her head bandage. She was white as a ghost and didn’t move at all. Her hand was cold in his and he kept rubbing it to warm it up. Layla had been quiet for some time. Rose’s doctor had come in a few minutes ago and given grim news. Her lungs were getting worse and worse but there was no obvious cause. It was like she had inhaled something caustic. On top of that, her lab work also showed that her kidneys and liver were not working well. He was now concerned about her heart and the increased work load. If she didn’t turn around quickly there was little hope.

Papa turned as he heard a ruckus at the doors to the ICU. Someone was flailing, running and stumbling through the doors. Cries of “STOP HIM!” and “WHERE IS HE GOING?” followed him. It was John. Hot on his heals were uniformed security guards and a pack of nurses. He flung open the slider into Rose’s room, not even looking at Papa or Layla. He retrieved a small oblong box from his pocket, popped it open and pulled out a syringe that he then jammed into an exposed port on the IV line near her hand. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” bellowed Papa at the wild eyed, soaking wet John who promptly collapsed on the floor coughing. Burly security guards grabbed him and forced him onto his stomach, arms painfully pulled behind him and hand cuffs placed. Just then an eerie sound emanated from a monitor next to Rose. It was a solid tone that made everyone freeze. It was the sound of a flatline on the heart monitor. Nurses and doctors rushed in, the Doctor (John) was roughly grabbed and dragged out. 

“Start compressions!” yelled Rose’s hospital doctor as he ran back into the room. 

The Doctor didn’t even fight the guards. He was hauled down the corridor and towards advancing police officers. He didn’t care, that sound in the room was the end. There was nothing else he could do. He hung his head and walked now, silently. It either would work or it wouldn’t. As he was switched to the custody of the police officers and they started to pepper him with questions, he felt his fever break. 

***   
Papa and Layla were pressed up against the wall in Rose’s room. Neither moved, both too shocked to react. Layla’s eyes were stuck to the figure of “John” being dragged away. She was confused; she had never seen anyone act like that. Papa couldn’t take his eyes off of Rose. Everyone descended so quickly on her that they forgot that he and Layla were there. The bed had been lowered and a large male nurse was compressing on her chest. Layla saw John get pulled around the corner just as another funny little sound emanated from the heart monitor, “Beep” and then another “beep.” They were hard to hear amongst the hubbub in the room. Everyone stopped for a second. It was slow at first, and the big nurse continued to press her chest for a while, but it maintained, increasing in speed until the compressions were stopped. 

Papa hugged Layla. Rose came back. She was still not breathing on her own, but her heart came back and maybe the rest of her would come back too. They could only hope at this point. 

*** 

The Doctor had been booked, finger printed, had mug shots and had been interrogated. During the whole experience he maintained a sullen face and did not speak. He had been completely drained of anything that provided his usual spark. He had no way of knowing if Rose was alive. Well, he figured, I will know for sure if I am charged with murder. The detective had yelled and screamed at him asking what he did and why he did it. The Doctor simply looked back expressionless. He had nothing left to give. Finally they dumped him in a cell, where he curled up on the cot and didn’t move. 

***   
Papa stayed by Rose’s side all day. He only went home at night to sleep and was back the next day early. Her doctor had said that she had been slowly but steadily improving. She had a bit more color in her cheeks and had begun to breathe a little, but they had to keep the ventilator on because her attempts had been too weak to be enough. 

Rose could hear singing, not loud singing, just quiet singing with a strong Italian accent. She stirred and coughed. Her throat felt like it was on fire. She felt like something was clamped down on her mouth. She went to move her hands to feel it, but they were tied down. She started to panic. She thrashed back and forth trying to scream but only heard the sputtering of a loud machine next to her. 

“Rose, stay still,” a familiar voice spoke in her ear. “You are ok, open your eyes.” Rose settled a bit with the feeling of a gentle hand on her chest. She opened her eyes and Papa swam into view. He was grinning broadly at her, his eyes filled with tears. “There’s my girl.” She pulled hard on her restraints, looking at them. 

A nurse stepped to her side. “Hi Rose, those are to keep you from pulling on your tubes and such. Now lay back. I can let you out if you promise not to pull on anything. If you do you can hurt yourself badly OK?” Rose nodded. The nurse untied the restraint on her right wrist, massaging her hand a little. “I know you have questions. You were very sick and you stopped breathing. That’s what the tube in your mouth is for. It goes down your throat and you are hooked to a ventilator. You have been breathing on your own for a while, but you were not taking strong enough breaths, so we had to supplement them. Got it so far?” Rose nodded again. She gingerly lifted her hand to touch the tube clamped to her mouth then her fingers migrated to the bandage on her head.

The nurse continued, “You have a nasty wound on your head from a fall. We stitched it up and it should heal just fine.” Rose’s hand moved to her chest. 

“Does your chest hurt?” asked the nurse. She was answered with another nod. The nurse’s face became more serious. “Your heart stopped for a few minutes. You are ok now, but we had to compress your chest. You have several broken ribs and a lot of bruising.”

Rose’s eyes got very big and a few tears leaked out. Papa took her hand and squeezed it. “You get better now OK?” 

Rose wiggled her hand out of his and made a motion like she was writing. The nurse got the clue and released her other hand from its restraint and handed her a pad of paper and a pen. Rose scrawled on it “Where is he?” The nurse looked at the note, puzzled. Papa took it and gave Rose another sympathetic smile. 

“He… gone right now.” Papa was obviously nervous and tried not to meet Rose’s eyes. Rose tapped the pen on the pad. “He got arrested.” Her eyes got even bigger. Papa sat down next to her to tell the story.


	14. Chapter 14

The next day Rose was breathing much better and stronger and her doctor had started to wean her off the ventilator. She still coughed a lot and the machine always sounded like it was about to explode when she did. With every cough she had searing pain in her chest with her broken ribs. She refused pain medication though, at least until nighttime. It had been three days since her heart stopped and she was eagerly waiting to be freed from the ventilator. 

Layla came and went. Rose was a little grateful that she didn’t have to talk to her. Layla had tried at least three times to visit the Doctor at the jail but he had refused. It was frustrating because she couldn’t tell him anything about Rose. Papa’s third cousin was a judge there and Papa had talked at length with him explaining, to the best of his knowledge, what was happening. They were in a holding pattern though, until Rose could speak for herself and tell them she did not want to press charges. 

Finally the next morning her doctor came in and announced it was time to take out her breathing tube. He sat Rose’s bed up and disconnected the ventilator. He deflated the little air bladder that was attached to the inside of the tube with a syringe and told her to breathe out. As she did he slipped out the tube. Rose coughed very hard as he did this and a nurse put an oxygen mask on her immediately. When she stopped coughing Rose rested back. It hurt, but she felt great being free of the horrible machine. She turned to her doctor and spoke, voice very scratchy and almost not audible, “I… don’t want… to press charges.” She turned to Papa. “Can… they…let him go?”

***  
Later that morning it was arranged for someone to come over from the court for Rose to repeat that she did not want the Doctor charged with assault and battery. Rose had managed to force herself to sit up in the bed and even travel to the bathroom with a lot of assistance. She was able to eat a little also. She had to, she had a goal. When her doctor came around that afternoon she had a simple statement. “I want to go home.”

“Now Rose, you are far too weak to leave yet. Your nurse tells me you can barely stand. You need to be on oxygen too for a while. I actually can’t say that you won’t be on it forever. Your lungs were badly damaged. Heck, your heart stopped. You need time.”

“Is it my choice though?” she rasped. 

“I guess ultimately it is yours but-“

“I want to go.”

“It will be against my advice. You could die, Rose. You are still too sick to be out.”

“I’ll sign anything, please let me go.”

Her doctor sighed and shook his head but said, ”I’ll start the paperwork. This is a mistake.”

Rose coughed again, “But it is my mistake to make.”

The discharge process was slow. She was given handfuls of prescriptions to take to the pharmacy with directions to fill them as soon as possible. A young man came by from a respiratory supply company and set her up with a portable oxygen tank and a few spares with a promise to come to the restaurant tomorrow and set her system up there. 

Rose signed everything as quickly as she could. She held a brave face and only closed her eyes when she waited for the next person to come in with more instructions. Everyone who came in gave her either looks of pity or the knowing looks that said “You’ll be back.”

Layla came in late in the afternoon with the news that John would be released within the hour. She was shocked to find Rose dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed. “What are you doing?” Layla asked. 

“She’s coming with us,” Papa answered, ”she wants to come get John with us.”

“Really? Rose, you are too sick.”

Rose fixed her gaze on Layla. ”I’m coming.”

Layla rolled her eyes. The nurse came in with a wheelchair and loaded Rose up. 

Layla had gone ahead to get the car and they put Rose in the front seat, small oxygen bottle between her legs. Papa squeezed into the back seat. The drive to the jail was short. No one talked; the only sounds were the steady rains that Papa explained had been almost constant for days and the sound of Rose’s periodic coughs. Her strong resolve in insisting to be set free was quickly dissolving as her energy waned. When they arrived, Papa found a concrete bench under a small shade out of the rain for them to wait for John.

Layla went in to see if there was anything else for her to do, but returned a few minutes later. Rose had curled up on the bench with her eyes closed. Papa was sitting at her head, holding her oxygen bottle on his lap and patting her gently on the back. 

They had waited roughly a half hour when the front doors to the jail opened and the Doctor came rushing out. He looked around frantically for a moment until his eyes fell upon the trio on the bench. Layla jumped up and ran to him, arms open wide. “John!” she exclaimed. Rose stirred a little and coughed. 

The Doctor had his eyes locked on Rose, he ran too, past Layla and right up to Rose. He knelt by the bench and gently pushed the hair back that had fallen on her face. “Hello,” he whispered. 

She stirred again and opened her eyes, producing a very weak smile. “Are you alright?” she croaked.

“I’m better than alright.” He grinned widely back. Then he scooped her up, cradling her head on his chest, held her tightly and carried her to the parking lot. Papa struggled to keep up holding the oxygen and dodging puddles. 

Layla drove them home in silence. The Doctor fussed over Rose the whole ride. When they returned back to the restaurant he helped he out of the car and looked around. “I um, need to take her to our vehicle.” It was still pouring down rain. 

“What? She needs to rest. You bring her inside, I make food.”

“Thanks Papa, really,” the Doctor replied, rubbing his neck, “I have what she needs. We’ll be back.” He put his arm around Rose’s waist, grabbed her oxygen and gently guided her out of the alley. 

Papa watched them go, sighing. Layla huffed and walked into the restaurant. 

Rose walked slowly, head on the Doctor’s shoulder. “Is she ok?” she whispered. “Can we go in?”

“She’s better, we can go in now. She was nearly done when I went in to make your antidote. It should be fine now.” 

“How are we not getting wet?”

“What did I tell you days ago about the raindrops? I go in between them.” They reached the TARDIS and he opened the door with the key, swept her up and carried her in and all the way to the med-bay.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the end. Special thanks to the fabulous RoseWilliams15 for listening to me perseverate on plot points. The title also came from her, as I was having her listen to a song when I had almost completed writing the story and telling her how much the song lyrics matched the story. The song is called "Between the Raindrops" and is from an American band called Lifehouse. Here are the lyrics:  
> "Look around  
> There's no one but you and me  
> Right here and now  
> The way it was meant to be  
> There's a smile on my face  
> Knowing that together everything that's in our way  
> We're better than alright
> 
> Walking between the raindrops  
> Riding the aftershock beside you  
> Off into the sunset  
> Living like there's nothing left to lose  
> Chasing after gold mines  
> Crossing the fine lines we knew  
> Hold on and take a breath  
> I'll be here every step  
> Walking between the raindrops with you"

Rose felt warm and happy. She was just beginning to wake up. The first thing she noticed is that it did not hurt to breathe. She took a deep breath and it felt wonderful. There was something cold touching her left hand. She lifted her head and looked down to see the Doctor leaning back in a chair situated by her bed. Her hand had been placed in his and he was sleeping. She moved her hand a little so she could squeeze his. He squeezed back and sat up, drawing a deep breath. 

“Well hello there!” he smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m ok, a little stiff. My breathing is much better. What happened? I don’t remember much after you put me down here.”

He chuckled. “You fell asleep as soon as I laid you down. I got you all fixed up though. A little lung tissue regeneration and bone mending as well as dermal regeneration and you are as good as new. Then of course you slept for 15 hours.”

“That would explain why I am so hungry. Can we go see Papa?”

“Are you sure? Let’s sit you up and let you acclimate. I imagine you want a shower and a change of clothes too.”

“You have no idea.”

“Oh yes I do, remember I was in jail.”

Rose looked deeply into his eyes and took both his hands. “I want to thank you. You risked your life to save me. How can I repay you?”

“You never have to repay anything, Rose Tyler. You just travelling beside me is more than enough.”

“I think I will have that shower now.” She was blushing a bit.

“Do you need help?”

“Not on your life mister.”

This time he blushed. 

***  
Rose and the Doctor walked into the back of the restaurant hand in hand. Papa looked up from his giant pot of sauce and smiled. “Rose you look beautiful! Are you better?”

“I am,” Rose beamed. 

“Good, wash up, I need help. All the people who couldn’t come in when we were closed came in and Layla is out.”

Rose and the Doctor washed their hands and he headed up to the dining room and Rose hung back near the sink. Papa looked up from his sauce and yelled at Rose. “Get up there you silly girl, help that man!” She gladly obliged. 

After the dinner service the three of them sat down to eat. Papa had a sad look on his face. “You are going aren’t you? Your car is fixed.”

“In a matter of speaking, yes” the Doctor answered. 

“Papa, we owe you a huge debt. You stayed with me while my no good companion was in jail.” She jabbed the Doctor lightly in the ribs. 

“Oi!” he yelped. 

Rose smiled and continued. “No really, you have no idea what that meant to me. You even closed the restaurant to be with me. You didn’t have to do that.” 

“Yes I did, you are like family. I wish you could stay forever. You could get your own apartment, get married, have babies!”

“Whoa there!” Rose was turning red. She looked over at the Doctor who suddenly found something very interesting in the area of his shoes. Rose continued, “We travel, that’s what we do. If we are lucky we meet amazing people like you and get to help out or be helped out. Then we have to move on. There is more to do.” 

Papa looked directly at her, locking eyes. “You are not from here are you?”

“No, like we said we are from all over,” Rose answered.

“No, I mean you really are not from here.”  
The Doctor cut in, “No. We aren’t. Is that OK?”

“Yes,” Papa looked at him now. 

“Do you want to know more?” The Doctor’s face was soft.

“No”

“We aren’t dangerous.”

“Of course not. I know that. If you dangerous I would not let you stay. I have strict rules about hiring homicidal employees.”

 

The Doctor threw his head back and laughed deeply. “Papa I am so glad I met you. I want to pay you back.”

 

“No money, I won’t take it.”

 

“Oh no, how about I um, modernize some of your kitchen appliances? You know, make them more efficient and energy saving?”

“Deal,“ said Papa. 

Rose stood and helped gather the dishes. “Papa, what are you going to do when Layla leaves?”

“I have been thinking about that. Rita has a daughter who needs a job but hates baking. I think I hire her, I know she is a good worker.”

*** 

The Doctor went to work on the kitchen appliances; a funny buzzing sound emitting from behind each one. He left several times to run to this “vehicle” for parts. When he finished his upgrades he trained Papa on how to use them. He was a quick study and demonstrated everything back until the Doctor was satisfied that he would have no problems. 

Rose knew the time had come for goodbyes. She had gathered their things from the apartment and cleaned up. She met the men in the kitchen. Papa looked at her with tears in his eyes again. “If I had a daughter I would want her to be you.” 

Rose sniffed a little. “Me too,” she said, hugging him. 

Papa let go and was giving the Doctor a bear hug when Layla came in. She looked to the Doctor and to Rose. “So you are going then?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, “Layla thanks for introducing me to your friends and showing me around. It was delightful, but now we have to go.” He stuck out his hand to shake hers and she reluctantly stuck out her hand to shake his back. 

“Yes thanks Layla, for everything.” Rose met her with a sweet smile. 

“Yeah no problem.” Layla disappeared up the stairs. Rose could not help but smirk a little. 

Papa turned and went to the refrigerator, where he produced two large bags of food. “I know you don’t need it now, but I give it to you anyway.”

Rose squealed with glee. “Oh Papa, you are the best. The Doctor took the bags and Rose hugged Papa again. 

Papa watched them go, the Doctor with both bags in one hand, the other entwined with Rose’s. He shed a tear, waved one more time and they waved back. Then he turned and went back in the kitchen to stir the sauce.


End file.
